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Fact check: Did BJP President Amit Shah and PM Modi call Baniyas cheaters and accuse them of profiteering?

OpIndia Staff
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Fact check: Did BJP President Amit Shah and PM Modi call Baniyas cheaters and accuse them of profiteering?

An image which looks like a cutting from a newspaper has gone viral on social media. The headline screams “Chori aur munafakhori is desh ke baniyon ki aadat hai: Amit Shah“. It claims that BJP President Amit Shah made a casteist comment on the Baniya community, accusing them of being habitual cheaters and profiteering.

WhatsApp message in circulation claiming Amit Shah made a casteist comment on the Baniyas.

A message accompanying it accuses the BJP of getting rid of Baniyas from Delhi’s voter list. Referring to the ‘news clipping’ the BJP President is accused of insulting the Baniyas. “Banias will give a slap to these sanghis in 2019,” the message says.

Many people even shared the same on social media.


The clipping which does not show which newspaper it belongs to, has no identifiable marks on it. The ‘article’ claims that while addressing a rally in Bundi, Rajasthan, ahead of Assembly elections, Shah accused the Baniya community of being habitual cheaters. “They (Baniyas) cheat on taxes and have also led to the deteriorated state of the farmers because of their profiteering,” the ‘article’ claims. The ‘article’ then repeats the above claims again in different words, keeping the same attacking tone on Baniyas.

The inset paragraph in the article also claims that Modi had called the trader community ‘cheaters’ and compared them to thieves during demonetisation.

Amusingly, Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party head Arvind Kejriwal had played the same ‘Baniya’ card when he wanted to claim that the ‘Baniyas’ are upset with the BJP because of GST implementation and hence the BJP has removed their names from the electoral rolls. Kejriwal

However, the above news is fake. Shah, who himself belongs to the Baniya community, did not say this in his speech at Bundi, Rajasthan.

To further verify the claims, we search the exact phrase on Google, but it threw up no result which could back the above ‘article’.

Google search results for the casteist comment credited to BJP President Amit Shah

Using Photoshopped news clipping frames is the new way of spreading fake news propaganda. Recently, a casteist statement attributed to Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani was in circulation ahead of Jasdan by-elections.

Earlier, expelled Aam Aadmi Party leader and Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan has also spread unverified image with wrong information to score a political point. In another instance, Bhushan and Congress leaders including their IT cell head had resorted to sharing a link of a dubious soft-porn website to prove Rafale is a ‘scam’. That is not all, yesterday, journalist and filmmaker Pritish Nandy used an example of fake news to actually spread fake news and has since been brazening it out on Twitter.

Chopper scam: More details on kickbacks to ‘family’ emerge from Christian Michel’s correspondence

OpIndia Staff
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Chopper scam: More details on kickbacks to ‘family’ emerge from Christian Michel’s correspondence

Fresh details have emerged on the kickbacks paid to the ‘family’ in the letters written by  AugustaWestland’s middleman Christian Michel. According to reports, the communication between Michel and another middleman, Italian Guido Haschke, reveals the extent of the involvement of the ‘family’.

The details of a communication between Michel and Haschke on August 11, 2009, shared with the CBI by the Swiss authorities state that Michel had flagged a ‘problem’ with his dealing of the ‘family’ with Haschke.

As per a report by Economic Times, Michel had written to Haschke, “The game is not over yet. There are still pieces to be moved”. He had also reportedly mentioned the ‘lack of support’ by the family.

Michel had also written that there is a ‘virulent response’ from the Finance Secretary who was stating that the Russians were wrongly excluded from the deal. The time period of the correspondence indicates that at that time the AgustaWestland deal was at the phase of cost determination after the Contract Negotiation Committee had proposed 552 million Euros in February 2009.

In the correspondence, Michel also reportedly confirms a monthly payment being made to the ‘family’. It is notable here that Haschke had confirmed to the Italian authorities that a ‘compensation’ of 11,000 Euros per month was made by Michel for 2 months to the ‘family’.

However, in that particular correspondence, Michel had reportedly shared, “If we had taken their (family) advice, we would be dead in the water.” He had compared Haschke’s plans with the ‘family’ to ‘arranging deck chairs on the Titanic’ and had added that no more payments will be made to them until the deal has been formalised. The ended with, “Not much point in discussing this now. Let us try and save the deal.”

Reports have stated that other accessed documents by the CBI refer to kickbacks being mentioned against ‘family and ‘AP’. The kickbacks were given to ‘family’ reportedly add up to Rs 184 crores as per the then exchange values. One of the incriminating documents being examined by the CBI reportedly reads, “One agreement EUR 42 million with the team and the other for EUR 28 million (not less than 5% of the total contract value) with the family…The family want their agreement honoured.”

Some reports say that Haschke had stated that the ‘family’ in the documents refer to the Tyagi family, referring to the then Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi and his family members. However, the documents are dated 2009, which is 2 years after SP Tyagi had retired from his post. Many also believe that it refers to the Gandhi family and ‘AP’ means Ahmed Patel.
Michel’s past correspondences with other individuals also mention Sonia Gandhi by name, as the ‘driving force behind the VIPs’.

Fact check: Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani did not make the casteist comment ahead of Jasdan by-elections

OpIndia Staff
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Fact check: Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani did not make the casteist comment ahead of Jasdan by-elections

Ahead of Jasdan by-election in Gujarat, a message is being circulated on various social media platforms which claim a casteist remark by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.

WhatsApp message widely in circulation in Gujarat

The message is in a TV9 Gujarati breaking news frame which quotes Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani to be saying, “Do not teach us whom to ask for votes. We do not need the votes of the Kshatriya and Koli communities.” The message is being circulated ahead of Jasdan by-polls which are scheduled to take place on 20th December.

The by-elections are scheduled after former sitting Congress MLA of Jasdan, Kunvarji Bavaliya resigned from the Assembly on 2nd July and switched sides to the ruling BJP.

However, TV9 has clarified that such a news is fake news and they have not reported Vijay Rupani saying these things.


Jasdan is a former princely state with significant Kshatriya population.

Sidhu knew of the opening before Imran Khan was sworn in, Kartarpur a bigger conspiracy by ISI: Captain Amarinder Singh

Shashank Bharadwaj
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Sidhu knew of the opening before Imran Khan was sworn in, Kartarpur a bigger conspiracy by ISI: Captain Amarinder Singh

After declining the invitation sent by Pakistan to attend the foundation stone laying ceremony of Kartarpur corridor, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has now said that opening of Kartarpur corridor is a ‘game plan of the ISI’.

Captain Amarinder Singh speaking to the media has said that Pakistan Army General Qamar Javed Bajwa had revealed the Kartarpur corridor news to Punjab Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu even before Imran Khan was sworn in as their Prime Minister, indicating a bigger conspiracy hatched by the Pakistan Army.

“The opening of the Kartarpur Corridor is clearly a game plan of the ISI,” the chief minister said, adding a bigger conspiracy seems to have been hatched by Pakistan Army against India.

He further indicated that Pakistan was attempting to revive militancy in Punjab and thus everyone should be wary of Pakistan’s motives. The Punjab CM went on to say that the Sidhu affair was being unnecessarily hyped and those raising it had clearly failed to see the ISI game plan.

Capt. Amarinder said the demand for the opening of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor had been pending since Partition as several holy Sikh shrines (Sri Nankana Sahib, Sri Panja Sahib, Dera Sahib and Kartarpur Sahib) had been left in Pakistan. Former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Dr Manmohan Singh had also taken up the issue of opening the Kartarpur corridor with Pakistan, he added. Amarinder said he himself had raised the matter with his Pakistan Punjab counterpart Parvez Elahi and with the then President, Parvez Musharraf during his earlier tenure as Punjab Chief Minister.

He said that ISI was trying to foment problems in Punjab by exploiting the religious sentiments of Sikhs. He also said that Pakistan funds and arms Sikhs in USA, Canada and even the UK by exploiting their religious feelings.

On Navjot Singh Sidhu, Capt. Amarinder Singh said he had no problem with Sidhu while running the Government and rejected having friction between the two as reported by the media.

“I and Sidhu are not at loggerheads as reported by the media and I have absolutely no problems with Sidhu while running the Government. Sidhu always speaks in a forthright manner and his only problem is that sometimes he shoots before he thinks,” said a statement released by Punjab Chief Minister Office (CMO).

On November 22, the government of India had announced its intention to build the Indian side of the Kartarpur Corridor and had urged Pakistan to reciprocate by building the corridor on Pakistan side. Harsimrat Badal, along with Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri had officially attended the foundation laying ceremony of Kartarpur corridor in Pakistan.

Navjot Singh Sidhu had eagerly accepted the invitation of the Pakistan government while Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh had declined the invitation sent to him. Amarinder Singh had said that due to continued terrorist attacks in Punjab and horrific killings of Indian soldiers by Pakistan, he will not be attending the event.

Senior Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu had caused a severe controversy after he posed with dreaded Khalistani terrorist Gopal Singh Chawla during his controversial visit to Pakistan to inaugurate the Kartarpur corridor.

After the arrest of ISI agent, security forces arrests Hizbul terrorist in Jammu and Kashmir

OpIndia Staff
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After the arrest of ISI agent, security forces arrests Hizbul terrorist in Jammu and Kashmir

Achieving a major success, the Kishtwar police have arrested one wanted terrorist named Riyaz Ahmed. The security forces have been receiving inputs of his presence in the Chenab valley in Jammy and Kashmir since past few months.


The security forces had launched a search operation in Kishtwar. An ISI agent Shehran alias Abbu Jubair was arrested by the security forces on Friday after which Hizbul terrorist Ahmed was arrested. Shehran was taken on a five-day remand by the police. There were speculations that after the assassination of BJP leader Anil Parihar and his brother in Kishtwar, the terrorists would be targeting the Chenab valley. After the arrest of Shehran that speculation has been confirmed. Ahmed used to incite youths to join terrorism and get involved in suspicious activities, police sources said. According to a police spokesperson, there are several cases registered against Ahmed in the Kishtwar police station.

According to the information received by the security agencies, Shehran was in touch with Jehangir Sarudi, the oldest commander of Hizbul Mujahideen. Shehran and Jehangir have together been working together to revive the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and the Hijbul module in Kishtwar.

Meanwhile, an encounter has been going on in Mujgund, Shrinagar between terrorists and security forces since Saturday evening. Three terrorists have been neutralised by the forces so far while five jawans have been injured.

Yogendra Yadav’s Swaraj India not to join the grand alliance without “due consideration”

OpIndia Staff
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Yogendra Yadav’s Swaraj India not to join the grand alliance without “due consideration”

Expelled Aam Admi Party leader and President of Swaraj India Party, Yogendra Yadav, on Sunday said that his party will not be a part of the proposed grand alliance (Mahagathbandhan) of opposition parties for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

“We are not going to be a part of any Mahagathbandhan for the 2019 elections. Power is not the aim of our politics. We want to teach a lesson to those who have been spoiled by power,” Yadav announced at a press briefing held during the launch of his party’s campaign “Rashtra Nirman Ke Liye Lok Abhiyan”.

Yadav who does not want to support the opposition parties without deliberation said that Swaraj India favours replacing the present ruling party at the centre but they will not support the opposition parties without due consideration.

Yadav’s Swaraj Abhiyan was part of the All India Kisan Sangharsh Committee (AIKSCC), a front of the Left parties, which organised the recent farmers’ rally at Ramlila Maidan. According to Yadav, farmers’ issues will play a key role in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Comparing the 2019 Lok Sabha polls with the elections held after the Emergency, Yadav hinted that the BJP will be uprooted the way Indira Gandhi government was uprooted post Emergency. “Our aim is to defeat the anti-farmer party and keep others in check who claim to be champions of farmers’ cause,” he added.

Yadav’s inclination towards the Left and his aversion of the Right and therefore the BJP and the RSS is well known. He had earlier spread misinformation about the RSS in his editorial piece published in the Hindu wherein he said that RSS was not a part of the freedom movement.

Congress party is threatening investigation agencies : BJP

OpIndia Staff
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Congress party is threatening investigation agencies : BJP

Condemning the remarks made by Congress leaders during a party briefing yesterday, the BJP accused Congress of threatening investigation agencies. BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain slammed the Congress for making remarks like “governments keep changing” following the raids conducted by the Enforcement Directorate at the offices of Robert Vadra and his close associates.

Hussain said that Prime Minister Modi has fulfilled his promise made to the people by acting strongly against corruption. “The Congress and its leaders are heaping abuses on investigation agencies and threatening them. These agencies are acting against corruption. Congress leaders say season is changing but they should know that the country is changing. Action would be taken against those involved in corruption,” he said.

Attacking Congress, he said that it is typical of Congress to indulge in corruption, deny it later and then resort to abusing when action is taken. He claimed that BJP will again form governments in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh while Congress will never return to power.

Hussain told the reporters that the Modi government has given a free hand to the investigation agencies to take action against people involved in corruption irrespective of their party and family affiliations. On the question regarding the growing demand from the Hindu community for the construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya, Hussain said that his party believed that there should be no delay in this. He said that the government respects the public sentiment and believes that the temple should be built at the earliest.

Yesterday, the Congress leaders had accused the Modi government of misusing the government agencies for settling political scores. Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi had warned the bureaucrats that governments keep changing. The party briefing was held following the ED raid at the offices of Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of former Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

NREGA scam worth Rs. 410 crore scam has been unearthed in Congress-JDS ruled Karnataka

OpIndia Staff
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NREGA scam worth Rs. 410 crore scam has been unearthed in Congress-JDS ruled Karnataka

The Congress-JDS coalition government in Karnataka has caught up in another controversy as social audits into NREGA accounts has revealed a Rs.410 crore scam, reported Deccan Herald.

As per reports, an audit into the NREGA accounts across 467 gram panchayats in the state has revealed severe leakages in payments worth Rs 37.68 crore. In addition to that, irregularities worth Rs 373 crore has been stalled in more than 92,000 cases due to various objections filed during the social audit.

Interestingly, the highest number of irregularities have been discovered in Channapatna and Kanakapura taluks of Ramanagara district. Channapatna is represented by Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy in the state assembly while Minister of Water resources DK Shivakumar is elected from Kanakapura constituency.

Reportedly, the social audit has unearthed irregularities like improper payments for work completed, wrong work cards, payments for work not done, payments exceeding quantum of work, payments exceeding the bill amount and double payments, etc. In the last five years, irregular payments alone worth Rs 113 crore have been flagged by the auditors.

Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Minister Krishna Byre Gowda responding to allegations said, “all works which are taken up under NREGA have to be geo-tagged and photographs uploaded to verify that the work was actually done. But when you’re doing such a large and diverse programme where millions of works are going on, there may be a few (leaks) here and there. While we don’t want leaks or misuse, we also don’t want to stifle the system.”

However, PDOs have complained that the social audit process is unfair, in that it is one-sided. RDPR principal secretary L K Atheeq said that the authorities will look into the irregularities and punish those involved in cases where payment was done without any work and those where payment was made for less work.

The Karnataka government had earlier extended the NREGA scheme to 150 days, as opposed to 100 as several districts in the state are facing drought. The government had promised all the labourers of providing a payment of Rs 236 per day.

National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 provides livelihood security in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of work in a financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. They are engaged in the creation of various rural assets, such as school compounds, trenches, farm ponds and so on.

Civil society organisations, nongovernmental organisations, political representatives, civil servants and workers of the rural areas collectively organise social audits to prevent corruption under the NREGA.

Bihar: retired IG’s daughter commits suicide a day before her marriage, investigation underway

OpIndia Staff
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Bihar: retired IG’s daughter commits suicide a day before her marriage, investigation underway

Daughter of a retired Inspector General of Police allegedly committed suicide by jumping off the 14th floor of her apartment building in Patna in the wee hours of Sunday.

The deceased was identified as Dr Snigdha, the daughter of retired Inspector General of Police Uma Shankar Sudhanshu.


Top officials, including Patna District Magistrate and the Senior Superintendent of Police and a police team, have reached the spot to investigate the matter.

The police have recovered the woman’s mobile phone from the spot. A doctor by profession, Dr Snigdha was about to get married the next day with the Kishanganj District Magistrate.

Patna SSP Manu Maharaj, investigating the matter said that the police is trying to ascertain what led the woman to take such extreme step, though prima facie investigation does not suggest any foul play.

Addressing media, SSP Patna said, ”Prima facie it appears to be a case of suicide, we’ve recovered a mobile. Victim’s family is in a state of shock, so we haven’t questioned them yet, no suicide note has been found. Further investigation is underway.”

Statue of all ironies: Pritish Nandy uses example of fake news to spread fake news

OpIndia Staff
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Statue of all ironies: Pritish Nandy uses example of fake news to spread fake news

In a major facepalm moment, Journalist and filmmaker Pritish Nandy, who once represented the Shiv Sena in Rajya Sabha, today used an example of fake news to spread fake news regarding Statue of Unity.


In what appeared to be a copy of a Facebook post, Nandy claimed that if you notice the features of Sardar Patel in the statue, it has no resemblance to the man that he was. The text in the post claimed that Sardar Patel’s statue is made in ‘Chinese style’ and this is what would happen if ‘Chines (sic) men will work on such projects’.

The image shared by Pritish Nandy is fake. In fact, we had busted this lie back in October when a Youth Congress leader had shared the same image of the statue with ‘Chinese features’ on social media. The picture on the right indeed looks a bit different from photos of Patel that we have seen. But if you pay attention, you will notice that the statue is under a shed supported by a steel structure, which is visible on the top right corner of the photo.

NOT Statue of Unity

Using image search tools available online, we have found that this photo has been extensively used in various media reports for the last several years. Fine tuning our search, we have zeroed onto the source of the image. We have found that this photo is available in stock image site Getty. Here is the full image, which is an AFP photo credited to Sam PANTHAKY, clicked on October 31, 2008:

Photo credit SAM PANTHAKY/AFP/Getty Images

It is evident from the photo that the statue is clearly nowhere near touching the record of world’s tallest statue. The description of the photo says that is a Bronze statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel which is being built by renowned sculptor Jashuben Shilpi at her workshop near Gandhinagar.

The sculptor is seen working on the statue in the photo, which gives a clear idea about the size of the sculpture. But Pritish Nandy did not let facts get in the way of spreading a narrative.

Nandy was called out by people for spreading fake image.


When it was pointed out to Nandy by multiple people that the image he is sharing is not of Statue of Unity but of another statue, Nandy brazened it out and said how he had sourced it from the latest copy of outlook.


Of course, helpful people pointed it out again that the Getty stock image also shows the picture he is sharing of Patel with ‘Chinese features’ is another statue and not the same.


However, to verify whether Outlook shared a fake image of Statue of Unity, we went to their website to check out their latest edition. One of the cover stories is on ‘fake news factory’. It talks about how fake news are spread on social media by political parties across the spectrum.

Here is what Outlook said about the fake image shared by Nandy.

Outlook story on ‘fake news factory’ claiming fake news spread by Nandy being fake news.

So, Pritish Nandy shared an example from a story on fake news, to spread fake news. We are not making it up. Even as we update this article with his latest comments, he is not believing it.


We have no words, really.

Repeat offender

Nandy’s gullibility at falling for forwarded messages on other social media channels is not new. Earlier he had claimed how despite switching over to LED, his electricity bill had spiked, insinuating that science is a myth.


Except that UJALA initiative of the government of distributing LED bulbs in bulk has led to an estimated savings of Rs. 16,464 crore a year.

Meanwhile, Nandy could subscribe to OpIndia on WhatsApp by sending a hello to +917980429661 so that he does not fall for fake news.

Note: In light of new information available on the source of image shared by Pritish Nandy, the article has been updated accordingly.

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